January 28th

Re-Set Workout (because I didn't really behave during my weekend away :(

LEGS:
~ 3x20 air squats (holding a 10-lb medicine ball)
~ 2x20 walking lunges (holding 12-lb dumbbells)
~ 3/10 curtsy lunges (with 8-lb weights - hammer curls on curtsy)

ARMS:
~ 3x20 plank push-ups (ouch!)
~ 3x10 bicep curls on cable (20#)
~ 3x16 tricep dips

BACK & CHEST:
~ 3x10 supine chest press (at least 15#)
~ 3x10 seated shoulder press (12.5#)
~ 3x10 seated rows (55#)

CARDIO:
~ 5 minute warm-up, 15 minute treadmill jog, 10 minute cool down

STRETCHING:
~ Focus on glutes, legs, and arms. Foam roller advised :)

Above is my method of torture for tomorrow morning. Following it up with a big breakfast and a full day of school. As for now, I'm going to forget about my pitiful lack of self-control and self-discipline this weekend...

xo
amanda

January 23rd

I have decided Wednesdays are my weigh-in days, so today I stepped on the scale! My weight loss goal for January was a safe 5 pounds, but of course I have been hoping for much more. On January 2nd, at the doctor's office, I weighed 201 pounds. Today, twenty-one days later, I weighed in at 195.4 pounds. This is by no means a pleasing number for me, but I recognize its value in being almost 6 pounds lighter than 21 days ago! Of course, the most frustrating part is that although I have been watching my exercise and food and feeling like a weight loss champ, today's number is a 0.4 pound increase from last week. However, I've got 8 more days left in the month, so I want to see where this can go!

Whew. Posting my weight in a public place, and being completely honest about it, is a big step for me. I'm happy because I decided today that it was time. This means that I am not only feeling better about myself and my body, but also that I am confident that I am headed in the right direction.

I haven't felt like this in a long time. Happy. Healthy. I'm even beginning to feel pretty again. It's amazing what losing a measly 5 pounds (while gaining some muscle and definition) can do to your outlook of yourself. 

I know this is going to be a long, hard battle. I have the unfailing tendency to self-sabotage time and again, as well as the unfortunate history of giving up when things get too hard. My only wish is that my boyfriend would join me on this journey. He's been grudgingly going to the gym with me most mornings, but his food choices haven't gotten any better, and he just doesn't seem to think that anything needs fixing! I worry because part of the reason I gained every single pound back that I lost before was because he wasn't onboard with my healthy lifestyle. His bad eating habits and sedentary lifestyle slowly crept their way back into my lives, so quietly that I didn't even realize it for the longest time.

This confidence and strength that I'm feeling means it's time to take it up a notch. I need to extend my cardio sessions, incorporate more lower body resistance work into my strength training, and be more vigilant about my calorie intake. Much as I hate to admit, it might be time to count calories again. Ugh.

This weekend, the BF and I are going north, to Colorado wine country. He's attending a conference, but I will be hanging out with his mom and little sister. I can't take this small break as an excuse to become a slacker! As I've learned before, even just a weekend of not working out makes me more likely to stop going to the gym completely when I get home.

I also can't use it as an excuse to eat what I want. His family has a lot of self-control when it comes to food, and generally has a lot of good snacks hanging around the house that they eat sparingly. Limiting my intake of these is crucial, as well as trying to limit my wine tastings, since alcohol makes me incredibly snack-ish. 

As I've found out before, having a plan helps me succeed. Guess that means I need a plan for the weekend!

Mini Weekend Away

Exercise:
~ Workout DVDs - P90X Abs, Cardio Kickboxing, and Jillian's No More Trouble Zones
~ Remember to pack workout clothes, yoga mat, water bottle, and 5-lb weights
~ Find a trail to walk/jog nearby if possible, for some fresh air!

Food:
~ Limit alcohol
~ Limit snacks. Bring lots of fresh fruit
~ Watch portions if eating out 

Other:
~ Catch up on sleep
~ Stay caught up on homework - if possible, use it as an excuse to refrain from unhealthy activities!
~ When stopping at Mouse's (best chocolate in Colorado), only get one piece!
~ Make myself proud

I guess I will see how it goes...all I'm concentrating on now is getting through 8 1/2 hours of school tomorrow before we can finally leave!

xo
amanda

P.S. Daily victory - running for 8 minutes straight on the treadmill at the gym at 8:30pm. And yeah, it was only at a 4.5 speed. And yeah, it was only 8 minutes. But if anyone knew what a HUGE accomplishment that is for me, they'd also know how incredibly psyched i was afterwards. Running high!!!

January 20th

My huge, delicious breakfast/lunch smoothie:

1/2 packet Justin's peanut butter
1/2 cup plain Kefir
1/2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 1/4 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 small banana
1/2 c frozen berries
1/2 c frozen pineapple and mango
1 handful spinach
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

565 calories and 22 grams of protein. And it tasted delicious! I don't normally put so much stuff in my smoothies - I'm a fan of simply fruit, almond milk, spinach, and protein powder - but I didn't have anything for breakfast but coffee, so I figured I might as well go all out. I was surprised at how un-peanut butter-y it tasted - I've never put peanut butter in my own smoothies before, so I was wrongfully worried that's what it would completely taste like!

I took my younger dog to the dog park today and ran the bejeesus out of her, with the help of our trusty Chuckit ball thrower. I got a lot of dog therapy in, as well as some Vitamin D.

Tonight, I cooked dinner for my roommate and I - chicken thighs with crispy skin, brussels sprouts with browned butter and sage, and mashed sweet potatoes. Oh, and some beer :) I'm pretty sure I still kept my calories well within the 1250-1400 range.

Tomorrow:

Week Three Day Two of the Pull-up Challenge
 P90X Abs
Microeconomics
Various bits of homework
A trip to my new job to fill out paperwork

This weekend was far too short, wouldn't you agree?

xo
amanda

January 18th

Aaaaaand....I've been knocked out by yet another round of sickness. This stuff really is getting on my nerves! Especially when I'm beginning to feel so jazzed up by exercise, and healthier and stronger...being sick has knocked me out by 7pm every night and made me a pretty stagnant person overall. I haven't been able to motivate my sick butt to go to the gym, so the past few days have consisted of LOTS of sleep, lots of Tylenol, and zero workouts.

On the front of actually beginning to craft an interesting blog, instead of just a daily diary of my boring life: I'm studying some interesting things this semester at school that seem blog-able in regards to fitness, including a class with the first unit solely devoted to figuring out who we are as individuals (with regards to how we will interact and where we will do well in the business world) - what our innate temperaments are, what our strengths are. I'm compiling them into an interesting post about how that all relates to health, but for right now I'm just trying to get all my homework done on time!

What I've been most proud of since getting back on the wagon again is my newfound control when it comes to food. I found this superpower once before, three years ago when I lost a bunch of weight in a healthy, sensible way. It's amazing how I can easily say 'no' to lots of things, as well as easily adjust to smaller portions, with my stress cut in half (i.e. no job). However, I have found out that no matter how well I'm doing, if I have even a half-glass of beer in me, which means I'm not remotely buzzed, I start shoveling in the food like there's no tomorrow. Just another reason why I need to seriously decrease my alcohol consumption, no matter how low it is at the present time (2-3 beers or glasses of wine per week - I'm thinking ONE drink per week is the magic number).

Goals for this weekend and coming week:

1. Increase water intake from 64 oz daily to 80-96 oz daily.

2. Complete Week 3 of the Pull-up Challenge.

3.  Start a food diary - but no calorie counting yet!

4. Do 3 days of P90X Ab Ripper X.

xo
amanda

January 14th

As far as Mondays go, this one has been fantastic! Since my boyfriend was away at work overnight, and since my iPhone has an awesome new update that lets me pick any song I want as an alarm tone, I popped out of bed at 5 am to Don Omar's Danza Kuduro. (*if you're opposed to music videos with lots of skin, i.e. skimpy bikinis, please don't watch this link to the original music video!)

If you're a fan of The Fast and The Furious movies, you might recognize it from the latest installment, Fast Five. Since it's in Spanish and Portuguese, I have no idea what they're saying, but it's awfully catchy! It's also my pump-up song for when I really need to get jazzed, and it works like a charm!

So I woke up rarin' to go, and got to the gym in pretty good time. I changed into my new workout top (!), my new sports bra (!!), and my new Nikes(!x1000).

My workout today was short and sweet - 10 minute blast on the elliptical followed by a good old Leg Killing: weighted squats, weighted donkey kicks and side leg lifts, and sumo squats with a medicine ball, and then another 10 minute elliptical session. Ouch! I did enough reps to seriously weaken my legs...and I LOVE IT!!!!

I've gone on a total cooking/baking spree recently. Here's what I've made in the past few days:

Raspberry-Chocolate Banana Bread (sinfully delicious, but healthier than you'd expect!)

My mom's recipe for Buttermilk Bread (the best bread ever, and it turns out fantastic every time)

Mom's Beef Stew (with extra veggies)

Goodness Bars (for my long days at school)

Spicy Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas (amazing! And fairly easy to make, too!)

My second workout today was the (ever-painful) P90X Ab Ripper X. It works my quads, hip flexors, and abs better than anything else!

I am also 100% caught up on my homework, which makes me a happy girl. What a productive and awesome Monday!

xo
amanda

January 13th

At the end of my day, right as I'm falling asleep, I'm usually bombarded with a whole list of things I forgot to do. Now that I am currently jobless and trying to better myself, I am working hard on making sure my days are as organized as possible. So I am beginning to compile a "To Do" list for various parts of my day, a list that I can accomplish throughout the day and that is dependent on the day as well, seeing as how I have three different types of days...

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my high stress days. I begin my first of four classes at 8 am. Each class is two hours, and there is only ten minutes separating each of them. I end at 4:30 pm.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are my low stress days. I have one class from 8 to 9 am and then I'm done for the day. However, these are the days when I do the majority of my homework.

Saturdays and Sundays are what I consider zero stress days. Yeah, I still have to do homework, but I usually have no set wake-up time or set schedule to finish up the remaining homework from the previous week.

Because of this, my "To Do" lists vary from day to day. For Tuesday and Thursday, it's pretty simple, short and sweet (almost 100% focused on taking care of myself and getting through the day), but on the other days of the week I'm able to add more tasks outside the realm of simply taking care of myself.

Here's my T/Th To Do's:

1. Brush teeth twice today!

2. Don't forget food to eat (I am going to test a few recipes for good nutrition that can be baked in bar form rather than turn to Luna or Clif bars. I want whole, good foods, and bars are very portable)

3. Remember to bring all books, notebooks, laptop, and charger to school.

4. Stay positive!

5. In the evening, make sure things are ready for the next day - pack school bag, organize food, put together gym bag.

Obviously, my list for those days is silly and a little unnecessary for most people, but it certainly helps me! However, my lists for the other days are a little more involved...

M/W/F To Do's:

1. P90X Abs - between gym and school if time, otherwise right after class.

2. Wipe down the bathroom.

3. Vacuum bedroom.

4. Grocery shopping, if needed.

5. By 12 pm, check class and textbook websites for all classes and double-check due dates. If anything is critically due, attend to that before anything else.

6. Drink a big cup of tea and have a half hour to read a non-school book, paint nails, take a bath, etc.

7. Cook dinner. On Mondays and Wednesdays, prep food to take to school the next day that is portable and easy to eat.

I will also be starting my new job in a few weeks, and I recently agreed to start cooking food for one of my roommates, although I probably won't be charging him very much! Still, it's an added responsibility, so I have to manage my time wisely, instead of just brushing off cooking and going out for pizza with my boyfriend. Eeks! I feel like I've gained a kid. 

Today's To-Do's are a little customized:

1. GO TO THE GYM WHEN DONE WITH THIS POST. NO EXCUSES!

2. Come up with a menu plan to give to above-mentioned roommate, as well as an hourly rate for cooking and a possible amount to charge him (because as much as I'd rather do it for free, the BF and I just can't afford it!).

3. Do homework due tonight and start on homework due Monday and Tuesday.

4. Take my dog out and run the crap out of her so she's not such a crazed, frenetic bundle of fur.

5. Wash the sheets and catch up on laundry

6. Bake raspberry-chocolate banana bread!

Okay, off to the gym for Pull-Up Project Week 2 Day 2! I'm trying out some caffeine before my workout to see if it really does help me bang out more reps. I'll report back tomorrow!

xo

amanda

January 10th

The first week of the semester is almost over! Seeing as how I only have one hour-long class tomorrow with nothing due, I've practically started my weekend already. And while I've figured out that my classes will certainly not allow slacking, I am absolutely loving them, even after only two class periods per class.

Today was day 2 of 2 for my rest days. I actually only meant to have one, but due to my still-strained shoulder, as well as an alarm snafu this morning, my poor aching body got two. I can't wait to hit the gym tomorrow, work my upper body once more, and get the muscles moving. I'll be starting my second week of the pull-up challenge!

Something I seem to be having issues with in my life this week is smooth transitions. Going from the gym to home to school in the mornings seems choppy and rushed (I generally wake up at 5:15, get to the gym between 5:45-6:00 am, arrive home around 7:00, and leave for school by 7:45), as well as smaller transitions, like the ten minutes I have between my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Ultimately, I want to increase my efficiency, especially when it comes to utilizing my time. So of course I turned to Pinterest to give me a few ideas, and I wasn't disappointed. Here's a few new foods and ideas I plan on using in my life to make things just a little bit easier :)

Cinnamon Quinoa Bake that can be cut into bars for breakfasts on-the-go.

Apple-Peanut Butter Snack Bars for the days I need a healthy and energizing bite to eat and only have five minutes to get it!

I need to sit down this weekend and work out an organizational system for all my papers. I hope it's half as pretty as this.

To-do each day for myself:

1. A big mug of tea.

2. A hot shower or an early bedtime

3. Endorphins via workouts :)

4. Lots of water for a healthy body and glowing skin

5. A few games of sudoku for a healthy brain distraction

xo

amanda